OPM to Lay Off 300 Employees

By Eric Katz

January 22, 2014

The Office of Personnel Management will lay off about 300 employees later this month, the agency announced on Wednesday.

Uncle Sam’s human resources agency said federal government is hiring fewer people and conducting less training. This has diminished the demand for OPM’s services, according to Federal News Radio, which first reported the story. The reductions-in-force were required by “revenue reductions in [OPM’s] reimbursable programs,” the agency wrote in a memo to all federal agencies.

OPM is ending its Nationwide Testing Program, FNR reported, which prompted the layoffs. The program allowed agencies to pay OPM to conduct testing that would “screen and ultimately select the best candidates for their positions.”

OPM created a “resume bank” to encourage other federal agencies to hire the laid-off OPM workers.

“The pool will include some employees who are eligible for non-competitive placement,” OPM noted in a fact sheet provided to HR departments throughout government, “based on their current appointment or other eligibility criteria. Other employees (e.g., those who are on excepted or temporary appointments) may be required to compete for positions being filled in the competitive service.”

The RIF notices will be sent by Thursday, or shortly thereafter, FNR reported.